Thoughts to consider

There has been a lot of debate in Christian and Jewish circles as to what Gog and Magog represent, but there has been no consensus. Some think it is referring to a 7th century BC ruler called Gyges and some think it refers to Alexander the great, while others think it refers to some future, ‘end times’ figure/nation. Gog and Magog are certainly the names of the nations led by Satan to attack Jerusalem at the end of the ‘thousand years’ in Revelation 20v8. So it could be a future event, nobody quite knows. Whoever it is though, they are in trouble!

These passages make clear that Gog is a vast army, but also that God will defeat them utterly. To just burn their weapons it will take 7 whole years. That is a lot of weapons!

The final part of this prophecy focuses on Israel rather than to Gog. These brief verses echo many of the restoration passages in chapters 34–37, including the themes of renewal for the whole house of Israel (39:25), the turning away from previous treachery (v. 26), and the gathering and return of those once scattered (vv. 27–28).